Pickering's Chris Raguseo a franchise player with Whitby Fury

Junior career coming to a close for five-year veteran defenceman

Pickering's Chris Raguseo a franchise player with Whitby Fury

Tim Bates / OJHL Images

WHITBY -- Whitby Fury captain Chris Raguseo celebrated a goal during an Ontario Junior Hockey League game. The Pickering resident's career in the league is coming to a close after five seasons with the same club. February 2013

"To me, he's our MVP and I think the best defenceman in the league. He does everything for us on and off the ice.

"He's been a big reason why this organization has gone in the direction it has. He's been like a franchise player that we've built around."

So who issued the quote and who is the subject matter?

Could be Claude Julien of the Boston Bruins talking about Zdeno Chara, or Ottawa's Paul MacLean on his star defenceman Erik Karlsson who could be lost for the season with an Achilles injury, or maybe it's Barry Trotz of Nashville on Shea Weber.

Wrong on all accounts, but it's conceivable that those coaches could have provided the quote about any of their star players.

The parallel is used to illustrate the significance of the contribution defenceman Chris Raguseo has had on the Whitby Fury, and the quote was supplied by his coach, Craig Fisher, following the team's final home game of the regular season against the Pickering Panthers last week.

The five-year run the captain has had with the club is slowly coming to an end, although the 20 year old would argue that his time in a Fury uniform is passing by too quickly. With each passing game, he is a step closer to graduating out of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.

"You don't want to let the emotions get the best of you, but at the same time, I've been here for a long time and have put in a lot of work," says the Pickering resident.

"I'll definitely remember all the years I've had here. As the season winds down and we get into the playoffs there are going to be some emotions that come up. That's just natural."

Five years in the same league is rare, serving them all with the same organization is almost unheard of.

When Raguseo was 16, he tried out with the Pickering Panthers, but when they only wanted to sign him to an AP card, he followed up on what he heard was an opening with the Fury. They liked what they saw, and signed him. It doesn't seem like that long ago to the St. Mary graduate.

"Every year went by quicker than the last. This one especially," says Raguseo. "I remember the first couple of games in the season, now there's only a couple left to go."

Last season was the longest for sure, as the Fury advanced to the league final before finally being stopped by Stouffville. Having tasted that level of success once, Raguseo wants another crack at it in his final kick at the can.

"The experience is huge," he says of last year's extended playoff run. "We got a lot of young talent and you mix that with some of the veteran experience with how deep we went last year and we're hoping for another long run like that and an even better result."

When this season finally ends, closing the books on a successful five years, the future could include enrolling in an NCAA program. Raguseo's loyalty would fit well. The length of commitment needed at that level is only four years.